6 ELECTRIFY!

We can't use fossil fuels. So how will we keep the world running? When people imagine switching to zero-carbon energy, they often think about simply swapping fossil fuels for another “familiar fuel.” If you had a gallon-sized gas container, you'd like to just fill it with something else that is zero-carbon yet powers the same lawnmower, or a familiar-looking car. That's why people think a lot about net-zero carbon fuels. Biomass, ethanol, switchgrass, sargassum—there are lots of things that absorb CO
2
from the atmosphere as they grow and emit it when they burn. Couldn't these fuels be used in our machinery with minimal changes to life? It sure sounds like it could work.